10 Things You Didn’t Know About Message Interoperability

10 Things You Didn’t Know About Message Interoperability

Through the use of APIs, product development and the pressing enterprise requirement of syncing conversations across messaging platforms, Mio has developed the only enterprise-grade messaging interoperability tool for Slack, Cisco Webex Teams and Microsoft Teams.

#1 – Message interoperability supports more than chat

The messaging experience is not limited to simply text. Therefore, it’s crucial that any messaging interoperability platform supports all forms of content that are shared in messages.

Mio supports file uploads, link sharing, emojis, reactions and GIFs across platform. You can send a message containing any, or all, of the above from the platform of your choosing i.e. Slack, and have it delivered in your colleagues platform, i.e. Cisco Webex Teams.

Teams, channels and spaces across Microsoft, Cisco and Slack platforms all provide a team messaging experience. So, it’s vital that message interoperability includes the collaborative messaging experience too.

Mio supports team messaging through the channel sync feature. Watch the video below to see how Mio sync Webex Teams spaces and Slack channels below.

#3 – Message interoperability supports threaded conversations

When chats get passionate and there is a lot going on, or simply if your colleagues like to space out their thoughts, threaded conversations save the day.

Message interoperability would not be complete if threads weren’t included. Rather than having to switch between apps to go back and check the thread, you can stay in the platform of your choosing and remain up to date with each and every thread to keep track of information.

Threads in Slack

#4 – Your security is paramount at all times

Mio’s approach to security is transparent. This enables your company to have a high degree of confidence when communicating across platforms.

Mio securely integrates with your messaging platforms and never stores messages or files. Protecting your data can be broken down into these key areas:

#5 – Config can be a one-time thing

When you configure your channels that need to be synced across platform, turn on future sync so that each time a new channel, space or team is created, it will automatically start syncing like your existing config.

Unlike in other solutions, you don’t need to setup additional config each time you add a user into a team.

Future Sync

#6 – You don’t have to sync everyone

If future sync is not for you, like when you don’t want to sync channel you create, you don’t have to.

Whilst message interoperability achieves full synchronization between teams that need to chat across platform, sometimes you need users to be restricted to one platform.

When configuring users, admins have total control of which people or channels they sync.

Channel and user mapping

#7 – Non-supported features can be emulated

In a perfect world, all functionality will be supported. However, not all chat platform APIs allow total transparency between features.

Rather than restricting the user experience or requiring the installation and use of another app, Mio emulates features as necessary for a completely native end-user experience.

Below is a feature matrix showcasing the unsupported features that Mio emulates to deliver a seamless native experience.

#8 – Interoperability is harder to achieve than you think

However, these don’t achieve total interoperability and you’ll likely just have another way of doing what you do today.

Integration between apps does exist across platforms like Slack, Microsoft Teams and Webex. However, this is usually achieved in bit-parts. Integrations like Webex Meetings into Slack provide access to your preferred meeting functionality, but users of Webex Teams are left having to switch between platforms to chat with colleagues that use Slack.

Multi-vendor environments often include Slack and Cisco Webex Teams

Web hooks and bot integrations provide further functionality. Often, triggers are setup so when a user of Webex Teams performs an action, something is triggered in Microsoft Teams.

Again, these only provide certain functionality and administration is often repetitive and time consuming.

#9 – Message interoperability isn’t the only interoperability in the collaboration space

Last year we rounded up what a great year 2018 had been for interoperability across the collaboration industry. Pexip pioneered video interoperability and both Cisco and Microsoft introduced interoperability between their own platforms.